


No way, not funny

by maizonos



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Crushes, Feelings Realization, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, MX Fic Fest 2019, Prompt Fic, Slow Burn, Strangers to Friends, Strangers to Lovers, Tags May Change, Texting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-28
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2020-10-19 01:35:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20649044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maizonos/pseuds/maizonos
Summary: It starts with the handsome stranger on the bus. Not bold enough to just go and talk to him, Minhyuk comes up with a risky plan in order to attempt to start a conversation with him. But everything is easier said than done, and it feels like Minhyuk's plans keep changing. The thing is, Minhyuk can't quite figure out why he's so desperate to talk to the guy.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my fic for MX Fic Fest's first round! The prompt I chose was 127: "Minhyuk pretends that he lost his phone so he can ask the handsome guy on the bus ride to call his number. Now he has Hyungwon's phone number without asking him directly." Admittedly I didn't follow the prompt entirely but I hope that if whoever sent in the prompt reads this, they still enjoy it!
> 
> And yes the title was taken from Dramarama because I couldn't come up with anything better. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Pale skin. Soft locks. The longest eyelashes Minhyuk’s ever seen. An aura of elegance. Needless to say, Minhyuk is completely transfixed.

Luckily for Minhyuk, so far the stranger hasn't noticed how obviously Minhyuk has been staring at him for the last few minutes. His bony fingers hold up a small paperback, appearing to be as enraptured by it as Minhyuk is enraptured by him.

It doesn’t seem like it would hurt to try and talk to him, but Minhyuk is afraid of leaving a terrible first impression on this beautiful human. He’s been told far too many times that he’s too loud and often oblivious as well, and he certainly doesn’t want to discomfort a stranger on a packed bus of all places.

But how else is he going to start talking to the stranger? He needs an excuse.

The bus reaches its next stop and a man carefully pushes a baby carriage into the bus and over next to Minhyuk. The baby girl smiles up at him from inside, eyes twinkling. There’s an assortment of toys around her but her hands are raised up in the air instead. Hoping her father, who is distracted by a phone call, won’t mind, Minhyuk reaches a hand in, and she grabs his finger. Minhyuk can feel himself dissolving at the sheer cuteness of the baby girl. She makes a few squeals of joy and kicks her feet about. Minhyuk realises, with a start, that the baby carriage would make for a good hiding spot for anything small. The baby can’t exactly snitch on him either.

So when he’s sure the baby’s father isn’t looking, Minhyuk quickly slips the first object he can take out of his pocket into the side of the carriage, entrusting it to the baby, his new partner in crime. His phone. Now he has something he can talk about to the stranger.

Minhyuk spends a minute pretending everything is fine, holding onto the handrail as he watches the bus move. The stranger is still focused on his book, and no one is giving Minhyuk weird looks, so it seems he’s in the clear.

The bus jerks to a stop, and some of the other people on the bus almost fall over trying to regain their footing. Now’s his chance.

Minhyuk checks his pockets, trying to look as panicked as possible, before opening the backpack slung over his shoulder, followed by frantically scanning the ground. Whilst doing this, he slowly shifts closer to the stranger, pretending to be scrutinising the floor of the bus, looking for something. Hopefully the stranger’s at least noticed Minhyuk by now.

Knowing that he ought to advance to the next step of his plan before it’s too late and the stranger gets off the bus, Minhyuk quickly clears his throat softly and puts on his most lost expression. Then he gently taps the stranger’s shoulder.

“Um, excuse me, have you seen my phone? I think I might have dropped it earlier and now I can’t find it…” Does he sound sheepish enough? He hopes he doesn’t sound fake or anything.

The stranger blinks, then frowns. “Oh, sorry, I haven’t.” He looks apologetic, and it makes Minhyuk want to scream at himself for making him lose the peaceful expression that was previously on his pretty face. He has to admit, it’s still cute though.

But the conversation mustn’t end here! Minhyuk scrambles for something else to say. “I’m so sorry to inconvenience you, but would you mind helping me look for it?”

The stranger takes a moment to consider this. “Oh, okay. What does your phone look like?” He puts his paperback away swiftly.

“It’s got a blue phone case and the screen has a crack on it.” Minhyuk hurriedly goes back to looking at the ground. So far, so good with talking to the stranger. “There’s a drawing of a whale on it.”

“Where did you last see it?” The stranger asks, also scanning the floor, tilting his head from side to side and craning his neck to look past the other passengers.

“Uhh, I was holding it right before the bus lurched forward. Over...there?” Minhyuk points out the spot where he was previously standing and decides to crouch so he can get a better view of everything on the ground.

The stranger nods, and slowly wades between the people on the bus, looking everywhere.

Minhyuk flashes a nervous glance at the baby carriage, and thankfully the baby girl doesn’t seem to have touched his phone at all. He walks past her father, a little tired of having to pretend to be genuinely searching for his phone and trying to figure out how he will conveniently figure out he dropped his phone in the baby carriage of all places.

Minhyuk decides that he should try to ask the other people on the bus about it, just like how he’d asked the stranger. He approaches the nearest person, a teenage girl fiddling with the hem of her skirt. “Excuse me, would you happen to have seen a phone with a blue case?” She shakes her head and he thanks her, moving on to the next person. The only person he must avoid at the moment is the baby girl’s father, lest he reaches into the carriage to check and finds his phone instantly.

The stranger, meanwhile, is still wading past everyone, his eyes trained on the ground for the most part. Minhyuk breathes out a sigh of relief. It would be bad if he’d given up and decided not to help anymore.

Not wanting to drag this out too long, Minhyuk eventually approaches the stranger once more, tapping his shoulder gently again.

The stranger turns around. “Have you found it?” He doesn’t sound impatient or angry at all, thankfully.

“Sadly, I haven’t.” Minhyuk plays dejected.

The stranger furrows his pretty brows. “Did you hear a thud when you presumably dropped it?”

Having personally slipped it into a baby carriage, he obviously didn’t hear any sort of sound. “I don’t think I did…”

“Maybe there’s a chance someone took it or it dropped somewhere other than the ground then?” The stranger starts looking at the other people suspiciously. None of them are really paying attention to the two of them.

Minhyuk nods in agreement. Then a genius idea comes to mind. “Wait, it’s not on silent mode! Maybe if we call it, we can find out where it is!”

The stranger’s eyes widen. “Oh, you’re right.” He takes his phone out of his pocket, unlocks it and hands it to Minhyuk. “Just input your number over here.”

Minhyuk accepts the stranger’s phone gratefully, trying not to think about how cute he thinks the pink phone case is. Struggling to remember his own phone number, he almost dials the wrong number.

After he dials the right number, his heart pounds as he thinks about how once his phone has been found, he may no longer have the guts to talk to the stranger.

Knowing that his ringtone gets louder after a while, he doesn’t actively try to listen out for it. He knows where his phone is anyway, but he continues to pretend that he doesn’t. The stranger turns his head left and right, trying to pick up on the ringtone. Minhyuk looks up and down instead, ogling the stranger more closely while he’s not looking.

“I think I can hear it,” the stranger says when Minhyuk is too busy being distracted by the stranger’s long legs. The stranger slowly moves closer to the baby carriage, slipping past some other people. He bends down just slightly, then asks the father if he can reach a hand inside the carriage, before sticking his hand in slowly, fishes around for a bit, before he successfully pulls Minhyuk’s phone out.

There’s an adorable expression on his face, one that probably means he feels relieved. He walks back over to Minhyuk. “Here it is.” He smiles and Minhyuk can’t help but grin.

“Thank you so much!” Minhyuk thanks him as he ends the call and on the stranger’s phone and hands the phone back to him. “Sorry for wasting so much of your time.”

“It’s alright,” the stranger reassures. “It’s important to help others.” He smiles warmly.

“When are you getting off? Let me treat you to a drink or something!” Minhyuk presses. He’s surprised at how smoothly he managed to say that without sounding too off-putting.

For the first time, the stranger looks up properly, his gaze moving out of the windows of the bus, then to the monitor with the name of the stop. His mouth falls open. “I’ve...missed my stop.”

Before Minhyuk can begin to apologise profusely, the bus comes to a stop and the stranger dashes out, giving Minhyuk a little wave. “I really must go, please take care.”

Just as quickly as the bus’s doors opened, they close again, and the bus keeps moving. It’s only then that Minhyuk takes a better look outside, and it takes him a few moments to realise that he too had missed his stop, because he can’t recognise a single building the bus passes.

Groaning, he waves goodbye to his little partner in crime, who giggles up at him, and gets off at the next stop, trying to figure out how best he should get home from there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunately, my planning with this fic became really long so I couldn't finish it all in time but I do intend on continuing! This is my first time writing a chaptered fic and I hope it turns out well! Thank you for reading, have a good day! Constructive criticism is always welcome!
> 
> Twitter: [hchaes](https://twitter.com/hchaes)  
CuriousCat: [hchaes](https://curiouscat.me/hchaes)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minhyuk realises that he can actually text the stranger since he has his number.

As he pulls his pyjamas on, Minhyuk concludes that that was quite a failure of a mission to start talking to someone. Minhyuk barely got to speak to the stranger and didn’t quite get to thank him for his help either. He doesn’t know his name or anything else about him that will help Minhyuk find out who he is, where he can find him, and what he’s like. And now he’d lost his one chance. The city’s so big, it would take ages for Minhyuk to find him again, even if he dedicated his entire life to the search. Not to mention, Minhyuk had gone to great lengths in order to even get a word in with the guy, but then that got cut off because Minhyuk had sort of forgotten about how everyone gets off the bus at some point. There’s no telling whether there even is any point in trying to find the guy again. Minhyuk clicks his tongue, thinking about how much of a shame this was. Now he might never know what that guy is like when he’s with friends or what his interests are. Not even whether he would be good friends with Minhyuk or not.

Running a hand through his hair, Minhyuk leaps onto his bed and yanks his phone out of the pocket of his jeans. It’s the first time he’s really gotten a chance to look at his phone after the stranger returned it to him, so he has amassed loads of notifications in the last two hours or so. Scrolling through them, Minhyuk dismisses most of them, making a mental note to turn off push notifications for a bunch of his applications. He really doesn’t need notifications about all these people liking his Instagram posts, and that’s only one small part of what he gets notifications for.

Just then, Minhyuk comes across a notification for a missed call from two hours ago, and it takes him a moment to realise that it’s from when the stranger called him on the bus in order to locate his phone. Messy as he is, Minhyuk always makes sure to keep his contacts as orderly as he possibly can after one too many times where he accidentally called the wrong number, so this unknown number stands out.

Chuckling to himself, he adds the number to his contacts under the name ‘Handsome Stranger’. It fits in with the rest of his contact list really well, given that he saves all his friends and family under weird names, but is he ever really going to need to remember that this number belongs to that particular stranger? He could certainly try to find out more about the number, but that sounds too much like something a stalker would do, and for the record, Minhyuk totally doesn’t stalk people. Shaking his head, Minhyuk is about to delete the contact when he realises that he can actually call or text the number.

As the realisation hits him, Minhyuk reminds himself that it turns out that all wasn’t lost the moment the stranger got off the bus. This won’t be easy, but Minhyuk isn’t going to give up on trying to befriend the guy just like that. Talking to him will, hopefully, be as fun as Minhyuk imagines it to be. Admittedly, Minhyuk had already been thinking of what it might be like, hanging out with him. The guy seems like a good listener but also someone Minhyuk can have a fun conversation with, the kind of person Minhyuk most enjoys spending time with.

But how do you start texting strangers? It would be so awkward just sliding in with some overly personal questions or offer for some sort of favour repayment. Given that he’s the kind of person to do completely random things, it wouldn’t be surprising if he had done something like this in the past, but sadly that’s not the case this time. He barely has to think before he texts someone he’s familiar with, but his desire to somehow impress this tall and mysterious stranger is weighing him down with more uncertainties than necessary. (Maybe he really should try conducting some research on the stranger’s phone number first.)

Minhyuk tries writing out different sorts of messages, all different ways to start conversations. How exactly can he test the waters? There’s no going back with whatever the first message he sends is. And the stranger isn’t going to be the one texting him first, that’s for sure. So although Minhyuk can keep procrastinating on this for as long as he likes, waiting around won’t really do anything other than make things more awkward, maybe even suspicious, when he finally does send a message to the stranger. If he takes too long to send a message, maybe the stranger will already have forgotten him, and Minhyuk hates being forgotten.

Frustrated, Minhyuk throws his pillow around, desperately hoping he can think of something that won’t make the stranger block him instantly. What would catch someone’s attention without offending or discomforting them? Minhyuk almost googles ‘pickup lines’ to be funny, but then he realises that it’s important not to mislead the stranger.

Hoping that he’ll have better luck coming up with something the next day before it’s too late, Minhyuk temporarily halts his quest to send something to the stranger and switches to going through his social media to catch up on his friends’ lives. It’s soothing, for the most part, because people normally only post about nice things going on every day and Minhyuk is filled with joy whenever he sees a friend posting about some great achievement or how they’re having a good day, even if he has nothing to do with it. Social media also helps him feel right as rain again because he also follows a handful of accounts that post memes and other things he likes looking at, like animal videos.

It’s while looking at one of these posts that Minhyuk learns of an incredibly random but maybe also amusing fact. And even though he knows it’s one of the cringiest and weirdest ways to start a conversation, he’d still like to try it out. If it fails he can change his number or say he texted the wrong person, he decides.

After nimbly typing the message in, Minhyuk decides he’ll send it the next day when he realises how late it already is. Biting back a howl of embarrassed yet excited laughter after he rereads what he typed, he shakes his head gently and switches off the light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I'm still working on the third chapter so it might be a while before it comes out, sorry about that. Hope you enjoyed even though not much happened. Constructive criticism is welcome!
> 
> Twitter: [hchaes](https://twitter.com/hchaes)  
CuriousCat: [hchaes](https://curiouscat.me/hchaes)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minhyuk starts to text the stranger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case this is a bit of a confusing format, on the left are Hyungwon's messages and on the right are Minhyuk's. The names they go under are according to whatever the number is saved as on the other's phone, which is why Minhyuk's got no contact name at the moment while Hyungwon is already 'Handsome Stranger' at the start of this conversation. Hope it makes sense! Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions for improvement on this.

**062-3110**  
good morning!  
did you know that dates grow on palm trees?

**Handsome Stranger**  
Did I know that **what** grow on palm trees?

**062-3110**  
dates  
you know  
those fruits?

**Handsome Stranger**  
Oh, those. No, I didn’t know that.  
I hate them though, thank you for asking.

**062-3110**  
dont worry  
i hate them too 😂😝  
i always thought they grow on bushes or something

**Handsome Stranger**  
Sorry but...who is this?

**062-3110**  
you dont remember me? 😭

**Handsome Stranger**  
...no?

**062-3110**  
im the guy who lost his phone on the bus 😜

**Handsome Stranger**  
Ohh… I remember you.  
Why are you texting me about dates growing on palm trees?

**062-3110**  
i wanted to thank you for your help  
but i couldnt think of any better way to start a conversation  
so… 

**Handsome Stranger**  
Couldn’t you have simply started off by introducing yourself as the one who lost his phone on the bus yesterday?

**062-3110**  
OH!  
i didnt think of that!

**Handsome Stranger**  
…

**062-3110**  
anyways  
i assume you found your way  
to wherever you were headed  
after you got off?

**Handsome Stranger**  
Yeah, I took another bus back.

**062-3110**  
aww i feel so bad!!  
you helped me find my phone  
but i caused you nothing but inconvenience  
dont you feel like  
something isnt right about that???

**Handsome Stranger**  
Umm...I don’t know? Maybe?

**062-3110**  
you see!  
so thats why i was thinking  
why dont i return the favour somehow!  
what do you think of that?

**Handsome Stranger**  
I don’t know… It’s not quite necessary, I was just helping someone in need. I just got home later than intended and spent a little more on bus fares, that’s all.

**062-3110**  
dont be such a spoilsport!  
so how can i repay you, monsieur?

**Handsome Stranger**  
By...not wasting your time talking to me and taking better care of your phone?

**062-3110**  
thats no fun!!  
aight  
since you appear to have no ideas  
you should tell me about yourself  
so i can come up with something!

**Handsome Stranger**  
What is there for me to tell you? Should I be telling a stranger about myself?

**062-3110**  
aww come on!  
how could you consider me a stranger  
when we literally talked for several minutes  
and searched a whole bus!  
im not here to harm you or anything like that!

**Handsome Stranger**  
I don’t even know your name…  
You could be a scammer for all I know. I’ve read many articles about the off-handed techniques people have used to cheat people of their money. Some included long, extensive plans that spanned years...

**062-3110**  
stop, stop, enough with that!  
my name is minhyuk!  
and im not a scammer, i swear!  
im a trustworthy person! 😤

**Handsome Stranger**  
OK, Minhyuk, so tell me why you’re so intent on returning the favour.  
I think you would be doing both of us a favour if you didn’t try to text strangers so randomly.

**062-3110**  
i just want to talk to you  
and maybe make another friend! 😢  
oh, dont get me wrong  
i do have friends, lots of them, but you seem nice!!  
and now youre lecturing me about being careful!!  
see how caring you are about others?

**Handsome Stranger**  
I won’t deny that I’m pretty nice to people half the time.  
You’re lucky I haven’t already blocked you for your own safety though.  
You need to learn that it’s not always safe to text strangers.

**062-3110**  
indeed i am!!  
and im very grateful that youre trying to teach me to be more cautious! 😊  
so are you going to tell me about yourself  
or do i need to search your number up online and see what comes up?

**Handsome Stranger**  
...please don’t do that. I don’t know what you might be able to find through doing that but still, please don’t.

**062-3110**  
then just tell me the basics  
like your name!!  
dont worry, you can trust me!  
i did already tell you my name, after all

**Handsome Stranger**  
Alright then, if you insist. My name is Hyungwon.

**062-3110**  
thats a lovely name!  
i think it fits you  
i dont know anyone else with that name  
(youre not lying to me about that being your name, are you?)  
unfortunately, i know a lot of other minhyuks… 😕  
i know, you must be one of a kind then!

**Handsome Hyungwon**  
…  
You flatter me too much, I’m nothing special. And no, I’m not lying. I don’t like lying.

**062-3110**  
you **are** lying!!  
now tell me more about yourself!

**Handsome Hyungwon**  
Uhh… I just moved here not long ago?

**062-3110**  
i never would have guessed!  
you look just like one of us!  
normally people who arent from here stand out so much

**Handsome Hyungwon**  
Well, I kind of am one of you. My parents are from here.

**062-3110**  
woahh!  
thats so cool  
so how long have you been (back?) here for?

**Handsome Hyungwon**  
Just a month. I’m still getting used to things as I’d only ever visited a couple of times when I was younger.

**062-3110**  
oooooo  
in that case, do you need a guide to show you around?  
i know this city like the back of my hand~

**Handsome Hyungwon**  
Tempting offer, to be honest.

**062-3110**  
you know you want to say yes!!  
oh wait  
so am i going to be your first friend from here?

**Handsome Hyungwon**  
**If** you become my friend, then yes.

**062-3110**  
AAAAAAA OMG THATS SO COOL!!  
IM GOING TO BE YOUR FIRST FRIEND FROM HERE!!  
I DONT THINK IVE EVER BEEN SOMEONES FIRST FRIEND HERE

**Handsome Hyungwon**  
Again, that’s only **if** you become my friend. I don’t think I make friends that easily sometimes.

**062-3110**  
you gotta give me a chance, at the very least!!  
i can actually be very helpful!  
please let me introduce you to some super cool places!  
i have connections so i can get discounts and free stuff too!! 😏

**Handsome Hyungwon**  
Ohh, connections certainly can be useful. OK then. Maybe just one day first? I don’t want to waste your time.

**062-3110**  
YAYY!!!  
i wont let you down!  
and dont worry about wasting my time  
im free nearly all of next week, how bout you?

**Handsome Hyungwon**  
Let me check.  
Next Friday’s good for me.

**062-3110**  
sure!!  
i will tell you when and where to meet up soon!

**Handsome Hyungwon**  
Alright.

**062-3110**  
😊😊😊😊😊  
i cant wait!!

**Handsome Hyungwon**  
Looking forward to it too. Thanks for doing this. 😀

**062-3110**  
😱 thats the 1st emoji youve sent!  
omg am i converting you???

**Handsome Hyungwon**  
No, you are not. I only use them once in a while so, once again, consider yourself lucky.

**062-3110**  
aww  
but i think thats good  
id rather you stay the way you are  
rather than jump on the bandwagon or smth  
but ofc if you ever get tired of doing all the extra typing  
then nothings stopping you from turning to using more slang

**Handsome Hyungwon**  
Yep, I agree with you. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Constructive criticism is always welcome and do feel free to share any thoughts you have about this fic so far. I've been enjoying writing this. :D Admittedly I'm not very versed in texting extremely informally and that's why there aren't as many times where text language is used as you might expect from Minhyuk. I also have to confess that the way how Hyungwon texts is mostly based on how I text and I took some inspiration from how some of my friends text to create Minhyuk's texting style.
> 
> Twitter: [hchaes](https://twitter.com/hchaes)  
CuriousCat: [hchaes](https://curiouscat.me/hchaes)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First appearance of Jooheon, Minhyuk's best friend!

It's not even 7 o’clock in the morning and Minhyuk is already barrelling into Jooheon’s apartment.

Jooheon pokes his head out of his kitchen, a soapy dish and sponge in his hands. “Oh hey, Minhyuk,” he says when he sees that it’s just his best friend. “It’s rare to see you up this early on a day when you don’t have uni.”

“Jooheon! Save me! You know how I told you about introducing the guy I met on the bus to the city?” Minhyuk whines and clambers over to hug Jooheon’s leg.

“Yeah, what about it? He cancelled on you?” Jooheon rinses the dish, sets it and the sponge down and washes his hands.

“No, worse! He _hasn’t_ cancelled on me!” Minhyuk buries his face in Jooheon’s leg and shakes violently. “It’s been three days and he hasn’t cancelled on me!”

“That’s good then, it means he’s actually interested in your offer!” Jooheon reaches down and pats Minhyuk’s head. “Have you started thinking about which places you want to take him to?”

“I may or may not have finished planning everything already…” Minhyuk mumbles, embarrassed.

“Then you have nothing to worry about! You did remember to put my cafe on the list, right?”

“Of course, I’m going to tell him to meet me there so we can start the day off well! But...but...now I have to text him again, and I don’t have anything good to start off with…” Minhyuk groans. “It’s hopeless! Why is it so hard to text him?”

“How’d you start texting him last time? Why don’t you do something like that again?” Jooheon asks, his fingers now gently tugging through Minhyuk’s messy locks of hair.

Minhyuk turns red and shakes his head vigorously. “Oh...you don’t even want to know!”

“Well, then that means things can’t get any worse! Send a ‘hi’ or something like that, then tell him you’ll wait for him at my cafe at whatever time you’ve chosen.”

“But...that’s so lame! Come on, Jooheon, I need a cooler conversation starter!”

“Ask how he’s doing?” Jooheon suggests. “Don’t look at me like that, Minhyuk, you’re far more likely to know what to say than I am. I’ve never even seen what the guy looks like, let alone how he behaves, so how am I supposed to know what to say to him?”

Minhyuk finally lets go of Jooheon’s leg and lies flat on the kitchen floor, much to Jooheon’s chagrin. “Forget it. Let me rot here. What if I disappoint him with the places I picked? I’m worried I didn’t pick enough interesting places.”

Jooheon puts his hands on his hips. “You have to show me what you’ve got planned first before I can tell you.”

MInhyuk hands Jooheon his phone, already open to a document titled “5 Star Tour :D”. Jooheon takes his time scrolling through, nodding every few seconds. “There’s nothing wrong with this. If he doesn’t like it then that’s his problem, you’re only trying to help him get familiar with the area. You’re not an experienced tour guide or anything like that.”

“You gotta help me out though! Give him the best pancakes when we go to your cafe! And give us a 50% discount! I don’t want him paying so much all because I dragged him into this!” Minhyuk wails, flailing his arms up and down.

“Don’t worry, Minhyuk, things will be fine on my end. I’ll make sure he comes back.” Jooheon grins as he pads from the kitchen to his room. “It’s my speciality, making almost every customer a regular one. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get ready to open the cafe for the day. You gonna come with me today? I could use the company.”

Minhyuk sits up, rubs one eye and crawls over to Jooheon. “Sorry, Jooheon, I think I should go back home... I haven’t touched my exchange program application at all in the last few days. Besides, I’ll be visiting in a few days with a new friend, and I plan on ordering your best pancakes, and they’ll taste better if I deprive myself of them for a little longer...”

“Fair enough,” Jooheon chuckles. “Text me if you need me to bring you anything tonight.”

“Thanks, Jooheon, don’t know what I’d do without you.” Minhyuk murmurs into Jooheon’s bed. “When you come back you might see me here, doing my work. Your place is so much neater than mine after all…”

“That’s exactly why you have a key to my place, Minhyuk. You’re welcome any time.” Jooheon pats Minhyuk’s head affectionately again and starts getting changed. “Don’t forget to introduce me to your new friend, by the way. I hope he’s as nice as you’re making him sound.”

Minhyuk lights up, the smile on his face as bright as the sun. “He is! I swear he is, he exudes this wonderfully warm aura and it makes me smile even though I don’t know much about him! I bet that’s why I'm so nervous… He seems like he’s on some other level that someone like me is so far away from.”

Jooheon scrunches his face up and waves his hand as he buttons his shirt up. “Nonsense. You haven’t even gotten the chance to have a proper conversation with him yet. He’s like any other human being on this planet, trust me. I’m sure you can handle a day with him. I’ll be there at the cafe for moral support, so if he says anything weird or mean to you, tell me and I’ll kick him out right away. Even if it turns out you two don’t quite click, you can choose to never meet up with him ever again. It’s as simple as that.”

“But I want to meet up with him again! I want to be his first friend here!” Minhyuk pouts even though he understands what Jooheon was trying to say.

“Well, we’ll have to see whether that’s feasible or not.” Jooheon retrieves his messenger bag and heads out the door, Minhyuk trailing behind him. “I’ll see you soon?” Jooheon asks.

Minhyuk nods as he presses the lift button. “Yeah, see you soon. We both better get going,” he adds with a nervous laugh when he checks his phone and notices what time it already is.

Jooheon spares a glance at his watch and swears under his breath. “The things I do for you, Minhyuk… The lift’s going to take ages to get here so I’m going to run down now, see ya.” He turns and starts running down the stairs, leaving Minhyuk alone in front of the lift doors.

When he finally exits the building, Minhyuk starts walking back home. It’s busy outside, as every morning always is. Minhyuk enjoys seeing people walking around, all with some sort of purpose. Today he will work on that essay and then treat himself to some dessert if he finishes it before midnight.

He stops by the convenience store to buy himself some lunch for later along with an energy drink. All the while, his mind plans what he’ll write for the essay part of his application.

He keeps telling himself that he’ll get the essay done that night. But an hour into his non-stop writing and research, his phone beeps. Unable to resist the temptation, he checks his phone. All hope of finishing the application in a few hours falls out the window when he reads the new message.

“What is it, Minhyuk? I’m kind of busy right now, can I call you back later?” Jooheon asks the instant he picks up, the background buzzing with chatter.

“No, you may not! I can’t believe this, Jooheon! You have to hear me out right now!” Minhyuk screams.

“What happened?” Jooheon asked, traces of concern evident in his voice.

“He...he texted me!” Minhyuk splutters.

“So…?” Minhyuk can visualise Jooheon cocking his head to the side, brows furrowed. “That’s good, right?”

“NO!” Minhyuk pants as he takes another breath. “I’m supposed to text him first to tell him when and where to meet me!”

“It seems to me that he made things easier for you. Not long ago you were ranting to me about not knowing how to start a conversation with him.” Minhyuk imagines Jooheon shrugging.

“You’re right, but still… It bums me out that he spoke first. I wasn’t expecting it at all.” Minhyuk sighs.

“Don’t forget that there’s no way he can expect when you text him either. So did he say something weird or what?” Jooheon is beginning to sound a little impatient.

“He sent me this very polite message telling me which building he lives in! Can you believe this man! He sent me part of his address! What am I supposed to do with that information?” Minhyuk complains.

“Use it to help you plan the tour, duh.”

Minhyuk takes a few seconds to consider this. “Oh, you’re right. But still! Now I know where he lives...” His tone turns serious. “Jooheon, this is important. He lives five minutes away from me. Five minutes! Actually, less than that. Less than five minutes! What if I become a stalker?!”

Jooheon is silent for a moment. Minhyuk guesses he's taking a deep breath. “Listen, Minhyuk. You won't. You'll feel compelled to look at that building when you pass by, but you won't start stalking him. You'll hold yourself back because he didn't tell you where he lives so you can go and invade his privacy. Don’t be an idiot, dude, we all know you have some level of self-restraint in you. There isn’t even any point in stalking him if he already agreed to meet you for a whole day, no less. He trusts you with his address and that says a lot, especially since you were trying to earn his trust earlier. Don’t break that trust. Now, any last words before I hang up?”

“Actually, yes, I do have more to say. I realised that he lives in one of those fancy new buildings! Jooheon, what if he's actually loaded with cash? What's he going to think of us and our cheap apartments?”

“Chill, chill, as I said before, things should work out fine. If he looks down on you then you can leave, go home, and stop talking to him for the rest of your life. It’s simple. And the place he currently stays may not even be his. He could be sharing it with someone or something, I don’t know, the possibilities are endless.”

“Yeah...you’re always right, sorry for overreacting and wasting your time. I can't stop thinking about this now. I'm so unused to making friends this way…”

“Don't worry about it. I must go now, so take care of yourself, okay? Bye.” Jooheon hangs up before Minhyuk can start another one of his sappy speeches. Jooheon's heard enough of being 'the best friend ever' and Minhyuk 'not being able to get this far in life without Jooheon'.

Minhyuk drops his phone on the table and turns back to his laptop, ready to continue writing his essay. But not even a second later, he remembers that he needs to reply to the message Hyungwon sent him. Dragging a palm down his face, Minhyuk picks his phone back up as he thinks about how best to reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! It's been a while since chapter 3! To be honest, I'd already finished writing this chapter some time ago but I didn't want to post it too soon in case my plans for future chapters changed a lot. But I did revise bits of this chapter a few days ago so at least it wasn't just sitting around without any changes, right? Anyway, I don't know how frequently I'll be able to update since I'm getting busier, but I will try my best. Hope you enjoyed meeting this fic's Jooheon and have a nice day or night! Constructive criticism and any feedback in general is, as usual, welcomed!
> 
> Twitter: [hchaes](https://twitter.com/hchaes)  
CuriousCat: [hchaes](https://curiouscat.me/hchaes)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minhyuk replies to Hyungwon giving him his address and they end up chatting again.

**Minhyuk**  
oh hey!!  
thanks for letting me know where you live  
i can better plan the days activities now  
you actually live less than 5 min away from me!  
that will make my plan much better then!  
meet me at noon at honey’s pancakes on the day  
heres their website: [link]  
its got the address as well as the menu and all that  
you can take bus 11 there  
the bus stop is right outside your building btw

**Handsome Hyungwon**  
Oh wow, wasn’t expecting that we lived so near each other. OK, that works for me, I’ll be on time.  
Wow, I took a look and the items on the menu look quite enticing too…

**Minhyuk**  
they all taste amazing!  
youll want to go back for sure!  
the place is owned and primarily run by my best friend  
ill introduce you to him on the day

**Handsome Hyungwon**  
That’s really cool! Looking forward to that!

**Minhyuk**  
i agree!!  
i take it you like pancakes?

**Handsome Hyungwon**  
They’re quite good, yeah. I can’t decide whether they’re better than waffles or not though.

**Minhyuk**  
both are gr8!!  
i know a good waffle place too, but lets not spend the whole day eating 😂  
ive actually already planned everything out 😝

**Handsome Hyungwon**  
Oh, that was fast, you really do know this city well.

**Minhyuk**  
of course i do!  
actually, do you want to take the bus to honey’s on your own  
or would you like to go together?  
i could pick you up from your building or smth  
i dont have a car but i know da wae~

**Handsome Hyungwon**  
Haha, I’ll take you up on your offer then. I’d rather not get lost. Does that mean we should meet earlier?

**Minhyuk**  
hmm  
11:15?  
is that fine for you?

**Handsome Hyungwon**  
Yes, that’s alright, I’ll wait by the entrance of my building.  
Is there anything I need to bring other than my wallet, phone and keys?

**Minhyuk**  
good question  
hmmm  
i dont think you need anything in particular  
probably just an umbrella  
it rains here kinda often  
and maybe also a shopping bag if youre the type to buy lots of stuff

**Handsome Hyungwon**  
I tend not to spend excessively but I’ll bring one just in case. Never know sometimes.

**Minhyuk**  
sure!!  
aaaaa tbh im jealous…  
sometimes i really really struggle with managing my finances  
do you have any tips? 👀

**Handsome Hyungwon**  
Hmm...I would say you should keep a record of every purchase you make, if you’re not already doing that.  
Try to come up with a goal of how much you want to save every month or so. I don’t know if you work or get an allowance, but try to set aside part of how much you have and make sure you don’t spend it.  
If it helps, pick a big goal, such as something you would like to buy that costs a lot. Even if you can afford it right now, if it means you’ll more or less go broke after buying it then you can use that as your target. Work towards saving up enough for it while also making sure you have enough money for your daily life and other expenses.

**Minhyuk**  
woah…  
dude  
thats a lot of concise advice wtf…  
i wasnt expecting such a long paragraph  
youre right tho  
i should keep track of my spending  
setting a goal sounds good too!  
thanks!

**Handsome Hyungwon**  
Sorry. I normally don’t write so much in one go so it must have looked scary. But as you said last time, I care about others a lot and try to help them when I can.

**Minhyuk**  
omg awww  
hyungwon cares about me!  
thats actually so cute tho

**Handsome Hyungwon**  
Just looking out for you and your money is all.  
Don’t want my tour guide going broke while we’re on the tour, or worse, before we even get to go on the tour.

**Minhyuk**  
right 😂😂😂 and i really appreciate that! 😊😊😊😊😊  
i forgot to ask  
do you have any allergies or dietary restrictions?

**Handsome Hyungwon**  
Nope, but thank you for asking. I eat most things.

**Minhyuk**  
👌  
i hate cucumbers  
theyre the worst

**Handsome Hyungwon**  
I will take note of that.  
If you hate cucumbers, then what do you love?

**Minhyuk**  
a lot…  
meat  
sweet potato…  
pizza  
sweet stuff in general lol  
you?

**Handsome Hyungwon**  
Those are nice. I like meat too and I also like seafood, especially shrimp.

**Minhyuk**  
👀  
i see  
i dont have it that often but seafood’s nice!

**Handsome Hyungwon**  
Yes, it really is. Do you know of any good local seafood restaurants? I haven’t had good shrimp in quite some time.

**Minhyuk**  
i know a few!  
but its getting late and i really need to go now  
so i will send them to you later!!  
unless you need one right now haha

**Handsome Hyungwon**  
It’s alright, I can wait, there are a lot of leftovers here so it’ll be a while until I need to go out to buy food again or eat outside.  
Talk to you later!

**Minhyuk**  
haha enjoy your leftovers then  
talk to you soon! 😁

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Here I am posting this in the public library hahaha risk-taking over here. It's been more than a month since I last posted a new chapter, so sorry to anyone who might have been waiting. :P This one's short, sadly, but the next one is on the way! Thank you again to anyone who's been reading this fic so far. Constructive criticism is more than welcome. :D
> 
> Twitter: [hchaes](https://twitter.com/hchaes)  
CuriousCat: [hchaes](https://curiouscat.me/hchaes)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minhyuk's Grand Tour commences!

Another few days and another few more instances of exchanging text messages with Hyungwon later, it’s finally the day of the ‘Grand Tour’, as Jooheon has been calling it. Despite Minhyuk’s slight modifications to the plans, they're still nothing much.

Thankfully, the sky is clear and Minhyuk wakes up to his phone’s alarm on the first ring. He’d gone to bed earlier than usual because he couldn’t figure out what else he could do to calm his nerves. Things would, hopefully, turn out alright, but he couldn’t be too sure.

It feels normal, brushing his teeth and picking out a decent sweatshirt to wear. Except...it also isn't. He doesn’t do this kind of thing, so he’s not too sure of what to expect.

The brisk walk to Hyungwon’s building fills him with moths rather than butterflies. His stomach feels disgusting and his guts are all twisted. With every step, he wonders whether Hyungwon will really be there waiting for him and if this is going to go right. He tried memorising his plan, but knowing how he goes off-track far too easily, who knows if he’ll even be able to follow it later.

When Minhyuk catches sight of Hyungwon, standing there with another paperback in his bony fingers, his heart almost leaps. He didn’t ditch him after all. Minhyuk knows they’re both awfully early, but he hurries over there all the same, the knots in his stomach loosening bit by bit. He can’t remember exactly what Hyungwon was wearing the last time he saw him, but he looks more or less the same. Minhyuk doesn’t know why he expected Hyungwon to have changed in the span of a few days. Perhaps it was because his perception of him had changed from the texts they’d exchanged.

“Hey!” Minhyuk greets as casually as he can as he comes to a stop in front of Hyungwon. “I’m glad you showed up!”

“Good morning,” Hyungwon greets in return, tucking the paperback into a small backpack right away. He smiles and the world around him brightens up ever so slightly. “I would never back down on my word. But it’s good you came before our arranged meeting time too, I thought I would have to wait for quite a while since I got here so early.”

“You could have stayed at home for a few more minutes! Doesn’t reading while standing make your neck feel uncomfortable?” Minhyuk asks, shoving his hands in his pockets to keep them warm.

“I think I’m used to it.” Hyungwon shrugs. “One of my relatives is holding a party over at the apartment later today anyway, so I thought it would be a good idea to leave earlier so that it would be easier for him to set up.” It’s the first time he’s mentioned the existence of another person he knows, Minhyuk realises.

“Ohh, so the apartment’s not yours only?”

“Yeah, it’s not mine at all, I’m just staying with my relatives because I can’t afford a place of my own. It’s a bit awkward at times but it’s also nice not being all on my own. My relatives are fairly nice to me as well.” Hyungwon turns around to take a look at the building, as if imagining his relatives watching him from where their apartment is.

“No wonder,” Minhyuk says. “You weren’t trying to flex when you told me you lived there without telling me the apartment’s not yours, were you?” He narrows his eyes in a joking manner.

“No, of course not.” Hyungwon laughs as he runs a hand through his hair that’s being blown by the breeze. It makes him look like a movie star, and Minhyuk wonders if he’s ever considered being an actor. “I genuinely thought it might help you in some way since you have mentioned many times that you know this place so well.”

“Good to know,” Minhyuk declares. “The bus should take a while to get here, so do you mind if we keep talking or would you like to go back to your book?”

“Oh, talking’s fine. It would be rude of me to continue reading with you right next to me. It’s easier for me to read when I’m alone anyway because I can focus on the book and not much else. And...I’d like to have a proper verbal conversation with you.” Hyungwon scratches the side of his head, appearing somewhat embarrassed.

“I want to talk to you too! So tell me, what do you like to read? This is the second time we’ve seen each other and you were holding a book both times. That’s a pretty rare sight in this society, I must say. I barely read these days unless it’s for uni!” Minhyuk declares.

“It’s true that a lot of people don’t read nowadays, but I don’t look down on them. I’ve been keeping the habit since I was young. As for what I like to read…” Hyungwon tilts his head to the side. “I guess I like to read fiction most of the time.”

“Good to know that you don’t think I’m inferior just because I’m not well-read,” Minhyuk says. “I do look at the news from time to time, but I lack the dedication to let myself get absorbed in a book. Not too sure about non-fiction though, normally those can be very boring, right?”

“Well, it depends on what the book is about. If it’s a biography about someone you respect, it could be rather insightful, even more so if it’s an autobiography. Some books will teach you important lessons in life while others broaden your knowledge about the world. But yes, some can be boring, and since there isn’t any particular topic I want to read about at the moment, I’m happy with stories.”

Hyungwon’s voice is incredibly soothing, Minhyuk realises. It’s calm and slow, as well as smooth and...silky? He could listen to Hyungwon talk all day. On the contrary, when Minhyuk is excited about something, the speed at which he speaks is comparable with a motorboat. But despite that, Minhyuk can’t seem to be able to let himself interrupt Hyungwon. He can’t start talking until he’s sure that Hyungwon’s finished.

“Oh yeah, you’re right about it depending on the type of book it is and what the reader is looking for. What kind of stories have you been reading lately? Or if you have any recommendations, I might actually try some if you’re convincing enough,” Minhyuk challenges, a glint in his eye. He wiggles his eyebrows, making Hyungwon laugh.

“Well...I’ve been reading some Japanese literature from many years back recently. As for recommendations, I’ll need to have a think about that.” The breeze picks up, making Hyungwon shiver slightly and put his hands in the pockets of his coat too.

Minhyuk chuckles. “Sure, let me know when you’re ready with a worthy recommendation. The last fictional work I read was probably manga... Hey, that’s also from Japan!” He sniggers, and Hyungwon smiles and nods. “Do you read any kind of graphic novels?”

“Not really. It’s not that I don’t like them, I think I just haven’t been exposed to them as much. You could give me some recommendations too if you like.” Hyungwon smiles. “It’s interesting trying out something someone else thinks is good and then discussing it. The relative I mentioned earlier reads too and sometimes he’ll tell me what he’s been enjoying. Mostly science fiction since he likes that stuff very much.”

“Is he our age?” Minhyuk asks. “Oh wait, I don’t think I even know how old you are, I just assumed we were around the same age. I’m 20, you?”

“I’m 20 too. And he’s just two years younger than I am.”

“That’s pretty cool! Do you plan on introducing me to him? Do your relatives even know you have a friend here yet?” Minhyuk asks excitedly, eyes shining with curiosity.

“I told my relatives I’m spending the day with a friend, so they’re probably aware,” Hyungwon says, shrugging. “As for introducing you to any of my relatives...I don’t know if and when to do that…” He removes his hand from his pocket to scratch his head before quickly slipping his hand back in.

“Just think about it! It’s not like you must introduce me to anyone,” Minhyuk reassures. Out of the corner of his eye, he spots a bus approaching and squints to see what the number on it is. “Oh! That’s the bus!”

The bus driver notices Minhyuk waving and the double-decker stops, the door popping open. From where they’re standing, it doesn’t look like there are many people inside, which makes sense given the time and route.

“That was fast,” Minhyuk remarks as they board the bus and pay the fare. No one else had appeared at the stop so Minhyuk had lost track of time as he spoke to Hyungwon. He walks over to the nearest available row of seats and sits down by the window, and Hyungwon sits next to him, taking his backpack off and placing it on his lap.

Hyungwon takes his left arm out of his pocket and pushes the sleeve up to reveal a watch. Minhyuk hadn’t noticed it before, but it’s an analogue watch, with a few visible scratches and a strap that’s clearly not the colour it used to be. Hyungwon narrows his eyes at the hands of the watch. “It was actually a little early,” he says. Not realising that Minhyuk had been transfixed by his watch, Hyungwon pulls the sleeve of his coat back over the watch and his hand.

“Oh, you checked the bus schedule?” Minhyuk asks in surprise.

“Yeah...I’m guessing you didn’t?” Hyungwon’s eyes appear to be bigger now that they’re sitting next to each other. Minhyuk doesn’t know where to look and settles on looking at Hyungwon’s face, mostly maintaining eye contact.

“I don’t really have the habit of doing that. Most times I just assume the bus will take up to 20 minutes to arrive and so I try to get to the bus stop early because I keep that in mind. And like this time, sometimes the schedule can be unreliable because of various traffic conditions or whatever.” Maybe because the bus is much warmer than the breezy bus stop, Minhyuk finds himself fiddling with the zipper of his coat, pulling it down, then yanking it back up, and then pulling it down again. He hopes Hyungwon doesn’t find it annoying.

“Ah, that’s reasonable. I prefer to do some planning to be safe and have an estimation of when things happen or how long things will take, so I tend to check schedules and such. But of course, it’s hard to plan everything out perfectly, and things can change too no matter how well-prepared you think you are.” Hyungwon’s gaze darts out the window, probably watching the buildings that they’re now passing by.

“Good point. I should try to do that too, I think I’m too spontaneous sometimes. This tour was one of the first times where I really put some kind of schedule or, uh, itinerary together. Even with exams I just study whatever and whenever I want,” Minhyuk says. Hyungwon’s gaze flicks back to Minhyuk’s face and Minhyuk nearly flinches at how Hyungwon’s focus has turned back to him. It’s not intimidating, but Minhyuk feels a lot more conscious of himself and his actions.

Hyungwon scrunches his face up for a second. “It’s hard with exams… You never know when you’ve studied enough or what exactly you need to know. I think it takes dedication and experience to get good at coming up with schedules that’ll work and then actually following them. Everyone’s different when it comes to stuff like this so it’s complicated.”

“You know so much about stuff like planning and keeping organised,” Minhyuk says. He rubs his hands together. “Teach me more, okay? I need to implement more of these in my life.”

“Alright, I’ll try.” Hyungwon nods. Minhyuk gawks as Hyungwon takes a small notepad and pen out of his pocket to scrawl a few words down. “What?” he asks when he looks up and notices Minhyuk’s shocked expression.

“You remind yourself like that?” Minhyuk asks, confusedly gesturing at the notepad.

“Yes. I think it’s faster than whipping my phone out and I rely on it quite a bit because sometimes I forget things. It’s also interesting looking back on things I’d written long ago. I’ve got quite a few full notepads.” Hyungwon twirls the pen with his fingers.

“Wow...did you only get a phone recently or something? You don’t seem to use it as much as most others do.” Minhyuk leans a bit closer to take a look at the notepad, but sits up straight again right after just in case there are personal things written in there. He’s definitely curious about what Hyungwon writes in there, but now’s not the time to be trying to find out.

“Err not really? I think I just prefer books and writing things by hand over looking at and tapping on a screen. I do still use my phone, but mostly when I’m alone in a peaceful environment.” Hyungwon strokes the page he’s on with his thumb, maybe unaware that he’s doing it.

“I’m learning a lot about you today,” Minhyuk comments. He thinks it’s nice, getting to know this handsome new friend better. Wait, are they even friends? He hopes they are.

“Yes, you certainly are. I’m learning more about you too,” Hyungwon responds. He closes the notepad and tucks it away with the pen, almost dropping the pen when the bus jolts. “Oh yeah, do you plan on telling me about that friend of yours who runs the pancake place we’re going to?” Judging by how sudden the question was, Minhyuk assumes that Hyungwon had something related to it written down in the notepad.

“Oh right! I kind of forgot about that, thanks for reminding me. Well, his name is Joooheon, but many people call him by different nicknames such as ‘honey’, thus the name of his cafe. He’s a year younger than me and is super friendly and reliable person, so I can always count on him. We met many years ago and have been best friends ever since.” Minhyuk finishes his brief introduction of Jooheon with a bright smile.

“He sounds nice,” Hyungwon says, his voice genuine and still as silky as ever. “Would you say he’s like you?”

Minhyuk touches his finger to his chin as he thinks. “That’s an interesting question, I’ve never truly thought about that before. In some ways, I guess. We’re both kind of clingy and outgoing and we like to help others.”

“That sounds kind of cute,” Hyungwon says, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

“I agree, we’re very cute people. I think he’ll take a liking to you too. We talk all the time so he’s already heard some stuff about you. Don’t worry, I don’t have any bad things to say about you so they’ve all been compliments.” Minhyuk grins cheekily. “He’s excited to meet you. I’m sure he’ll find time to come by our table for at least a few minutes.”

Hyungwon smiles. “Well, I look forward to meeting him then.”

The bus halts at another red light and Minhyuk turns to look out the window, checking the nearby buildings to identify where they are. “Oh, we’re almost there.” He presses the button nearest to him to alert the driver that they wish to get off at this stop.

As they near the stop, he stands, and Hyungwon follows. As soon as the door opens, they exit, with Minhyuk excitedly jumping off. “This way!”

The walk to Jooheon and pancakes isn’t long. Honey’s Pancakes is situated at the ground level of an old and short building tucked in between lots of other old and short buildings. As a result, the view of the sky is not obstructed and Minhyuk gets a warm, cosy feeling whenever he goes to the cafe. He wouldn’t be exaggerating if he said that Honey’s Pancakes was what brought in half the number of people who visited this part of town.

When they arrive at the glass door, Minhyuk pushes it open and ushers Hyungwon inside, directing him to his favourite table, the one closest to the kitchen. It’s easiest to smell the pancakes from there and isn’t too close to the other tables, which Minhyuk likes. There are only a few people scattered around the small cafe, enjoying their meals. Minhyuk pulls a chair out for Hyungwon before pulling another out for himself. Although the lack of service can be a bit unusual and potentially confusing for some, what Minhyuk likes is that it’s more comfortable. Being able to choose seats and refill your water yourself rather than be bombarded by staff asking for your order two seconds after you’ve opened the menu is like a breath of fresh air.

“What do you think so far?” Minhyuk asks, putting his elbows on the table and resting his head on one hand.

“I like the atmosphere. It’s quiet. The design of the place is also rather nice. It’s not overwhelming at all and gives a dreamy feeling, I feel like. It reminds me of some coffee shops.” Hyungwon turns to look at the paintings hung up around the cafe. “The paintings add a nice touch too. Not only can you enjoy good food, but you can also look outside as well as admire the aesthetics of the cafe.”

“It’s nice to hear that people like the interior design of this cafe even though the building isn’t in a great state. Jooheon took a while to settle on keeping it like this but he doesn’t regret it one bit.” Minhyuk passes Hyungwon one of the two menus neatly placed on the side of the table, then opens the other one for himself. Hyungwon opens it gingerly while Minhyuk starts flipping through it in search of items he hasn’t tried yet. Jooheon has some seasonal specials from time to time, but because he can specially request anything from Jooheon, Minhyuk doesn’t bother with the limited offers until he feels like he wants to try them.

As always, the decision is a difficult one. Minhyuk looks at Hyungwon, who doesn’t look like there’s one particular item he wants yet either. “Man, I’m starving just smelling all these amazing pancakes,” Minhyuk groans. Hyungwon nods in agreement. “But, oh lord, do you know what I hate most about this place?”

“There’s something you hate about your best friend’s cafe?” Hyungwon looks up from the menu, amused.

“Yes, there is,” Minhyuk huffs. “I hate that there are way too many options! Till now I’ve yet to try everything on the menu. And he keeps coming up with more recipes or special offers so it’s endless! It’s such a...scam!” He throws his arms in the air.

“Who’s calling my cafe a scam?” Jooheon barks in a low voice as he emerges from the kitchen, a plate of pancakes in his hands. Startled, Hyungwon’s fingers let go of the menu, and it drops on the table. Not needing an answer to the question, Jooheon turns and narrows his eyes at Minhyuk before walking away to present the pancakes to a customer at the other side of the restaurant. Minhyuk laughs dryly, shaking his head. He’d gotten caught.

Minhyuk feigns an apologetic expression when Jooheon walks back over with his hands on his hips. “I forgot how good your hearing is sometimes, Jooheon. Anyways, Hyungwon, this is Jooheon.” Minhyuk raises his arms to gesture at Jooheon. “And this is Hyungwon.”

“Nice to meet you, Hyungwon,” Jooheon says, his voice a lot sweeter than a minute ago. “I believe Minhyuk has already told you that I own this place?” His adorable dimples resurface, and Minhyuk resists the urge to pinch them in front of Hyungwon.

“Yes, he has,” Hyungwon says, returning the smile on Jooheon’s face. “It’s a pleasure to meet you too.”

“As you can see, there are still some other customers around, but if and when they’re gone before you two go, I’ll come over and sit with you guys, okay? Have you two decided on your orders?” Jooheon asks with a smile.

“Oh of course not,” Minhyuk whines. “You know how long it takes me sometimes.” Jooheon chuckles and nods in agreement, then turns to Hyungwon.

“I’ve yet to settle on one that I’d like to have today either,” Hyungwon says, his fingers scratching at his head. “You’ve got a lot of appealing options and all of them look like they’d taste brilliant.”

“Oh, I’m flattered. I’ll be back in a while then. Don’t spend too long thinking since you can always come back and try the other items another time!” Jooheon turns on his heel, disappearing back into the mysterious kitchen, which was the only part of the cafe that Minhyuk had been barred from entering even before Minhyuk first step foot into the cafe. Something about ensuring hygiene, Jooheon had said. Which made sense, because Minhyuk was horrible at maintaining hygiene at times.

“He looked kind of fierce at first, but he seems like a nice person,” Hyungwon says, snapping Minhyuk out of his train of thought.

“Oh, I’m glad you think so, he really is nice.” Minhyuk beams. It’s not a big deal, but having his best friend meet his new friend is like having a burden taken off his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, I'm glad I didn't take more than a month to update this time! Constructive criticism or any comments about anything are always welcome. Have a nice day/night and I hope I'll be updating again in no more than a month's time. :D
> 
> Twitter: [hchaes](https://twitter.com/hchaes)  
CuriousCat: [hchaes](https://curiouscat.me/hchaes)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After having a nice meal at Honey's Pancakes, Minhyuk takes Hyungwon to the next stop of the Grand Tour.

Minhyuk stabs at the last fluffy pancake on his plate, glancing up at Jooheon and Hyungwon every now and then. He had been right about the two being compatible as friends. Maybe too right. Ever since the last other customer had left, Jooheon had been sitting with them and had engaged in conversation with Hyungwon, leaving almost no room for Minhyuk to say anything. Minhyuk did not recall including that in his ‘Grand Tour’ schedule, but it would be extremely rude of him to demand that he be included in the conversation.

“Is he alright?” Hyungwon suddenly asks, looking at Minhyuk worriedly.

Jooheon turns his attention to the slumped over Minhyuk, then snorts. “He’s in need of attention. In dire need, actually.”

“What do you do when that happens?”

“I either give it to him or ignore him.” Jooheon shakes his head. “He’s like this all the time. You can see it from his pouty face.”

“Ohh, I see.” Hyungwon smiles apologetically. “Sorry for leaving you out,” he says, putting his knife down and stretching an arm out to pat the top of Minhyuk’s head lightly. “We can talk more later.” Minhyuk brightens up immediately.

Jooheon snorts and clicks his tongue. “You’ve just made a grave mistake, Hyungwon. There is no going back now.”

Hyungwon looks at Jooheon with a terrified expression. “Why is that?”

“Because now he’s going to ask you to keep doing that. I swear, he’s like a needy puppy sometimes.”

Hyungwon nods in understanding. “I guess I’m fine with it for now, but I think maybe in time I’ll see why it might have been a mistake.”

“Yeah, you probably will regret doing that. He’ll annoy you to hell and back if you don’t give him what he wants.”

“Stop talking about me like I’m not here!” Minhyuk whines. “And I’m quite sure you’re like that too, Jooheon.”

“No way,” Jooheon retorts.

Minhyuk pouts. Hyungwon laughs.

“You see what I mean, Hyungwon? This is the kind of person he is. You’ve got to be careful.” Jooheon folds his arms.

Hyungwon smiles. “No worries, I think I can handle him alright.”

“I’m not a child,” Minhyuk whines, swinging his legs back and forth.

“We know you aren’t,” Jooheon deadpans. “You just behave like one sometimes.”

Minhyuk pouts again and goes back to his pancake, which is full of holes from all the stabbing he had been doing.

When Minhyuk finally swallows the last of the pancake, Jooheon starts clapping loudly. “Congratulations,” he proclaims.

“You two were too distracting,” Minhyuk protests. “I could barely focus on eating because you kept drawing my attention away from the food.”

“Are you sure? You’re certain it wasn’t just that you were feeling left out?” Jooheon teases.

“Absolutely positive,” Minhyuk huffs. “I know myself.”

“If you say so.” Jooheon laughs. “Well, I’ve got to sort some stuff out, so I’ll leave you two to it now.” He stands, pushing his chair in.

“Thank you so much for the amazing pancakes,” Hyungwon says. “I had a good time talking to you as well.”

“My pleasure, Hyungwon.” Jooheon smiles. “Be sure to come back next time!” He picks up the two plates.

“I most definitely will,” Hyungwon says with a firm nod.

“I’ll clean the table in a bit, make sure you don’t leave anything behind. Especially you, Minhyuk, I don’t want to see your wallet on the floor again.” Jooheon disappears into the kitchen once again, and it’s finally silent again. Minhyuk and Hyungwon had really gotten lucky, since it was a quiet afternoon at Honey’s Pancakes.

Minhyuk toys with the stirrer in his drink, swishing it round and round. He watches as Hyungwon cranes his neck up to look at the paintings again.

“Are you an art kind of person?” he asks after Hyungwon spends at least a minute looking at one particular painting. “Like, do you appreciate art a lot?”

Hyungwon blinks, then looks at him. “Ah, sorry, was kind of getting lost in my thoughts as I looked at the paintings. Would you mind repeating what you said just now?”

“It’s okay,” Minhyuk smiles. “I was asking if you appreciate art a lot.”

“Ahh.” Hyungwon taps his finger against his temple. “I guess I do. I’m not a super big art enthusiast, but I like to look at the art around me, at least.”

“So do I,” Minhyuk says. “Anyways, shall we go now?”

“What about the bill?” Hyungwon asks, confused. “How much should I be paying?” he adds as he reaches for the menu to check how much his meal cost.

“Oh, I already settled it with Jooheon yesterday, you don’t need to pay me back.”

“But-” Hyungwon starts, only for Minhyuk to cut him off.

“I need to get in control of my money, remember? This tour guide is making sure he isn’t going broke today,” he declares, grinning.

“Alright then, I’ll take your word for it.” Hyungwon puts his backpack on and gets up while Minhyuk checks the floor to make sure something didn’t drop out of his pocket like last time.

“We’re leaving now, Jooheon!” Minhyuk shouts. “Thanks again and bye!”

“Oh, bye Minhyuk, bye Hyungwon!” Jooheon calls back from the kitchen. “Have a nice day!”

Pushing the door open, Minhyuk lets Hyungwon exit first before he steps out into the warm sunlight. “This way,” he says as he points in the opposite direction from where they’d come from.

“Are we walking to the next spot?” Hyungwon asks.

“Yes, it’s pretty close. Waiting for a bus would take longer than walking, actually.”

“Do you try to save money in terms of taking transport?” Hyungwon inquires as they begin to walk at a relaxed pace.

“Hm, sometimes? If I’m lazy and I know it won’t be hard for me to get a seat then I might wait for a bus or take the subway. I enjoy walking though, it can be quite calming so I do it sometimes if the distance isn’t too great and I can afford to take my time.”

“I like to take walks too. I’m not the kind of person who likes to exercise, so I try to at least do more walking when I can. I think I’ll be able to do it more after becoming more familiar with the entire area. Right now I’m a bit worried about getting lost if I forget to take my phone with me.”

“Fair enough. I know it’s a different kind of feeling, but we could definitely go on walks someday! That way, you won't get lost! Well, only if you want to go with me.” Minhyuk rubs his neck sheepishly, laughing softly. “It’s nice to walk to a particular location and then walk back home, or just start walking with no final destination in mind, you know?”

“Yes, I get what you mean.” Hyungwon looks ahead fondly. “I like that feeling.”

They cross one final street and are met with a queue of cheery people. "Ah, we're here," Minhyuk announces.

"What are we lining up for?" Hyungwon asks. Even with his height, it's a bit hard to see what's at the very front.

"We need to line up to buy tickets to enter the museum! Don't worry, it won't be long before we can go in. It's just that it's almost time for them to start selling tickets again, so that's why there's a bunch of people here waiting. Once we get tickets, we can head inside."

Hyungwon's eyes widen with interest. "Oh, a museum! What kind of museum is it?"

"A history museum. It mostly features local history. I thought that you might find it interesting since you may not know so much about the history of this area?" Minhyuk looks at Hyungwon to gauge his reaction.

Hyungwon grins. "That was a great idea. I am indeed interested in learning about local history, but hadn't thought to try to actually read up on it or visit these sorts of places."

"I'm glad then," Minhyuk says. This was among the first places he'd thought of, but he hadn't been so sure about whether it was a good idea or not. “I haven’t been here in years, so I’m curious to see what’s different.”

“I guess we’ll find out when we’re inside, then.” Hyungwon takes his backpack off, unzipping it and pulling a water bottle out. He uncaps it and takes a drink from it. “I didn’t realise how long it’d been since I last drank some water until just now. Did you bring any water with you?”

“Unfortunately, I didn’t,” Minhyuk groans. He always forgets stuff like water. “Would you mind if I take a drink from your bottle? I won’t drink very much.”

“It’s alright, I don’t mind.” Hyungwon passes the bottle to Minhyuk.

Minhyuk tips his head back to pour water into his mouth. After years of experience of drinking from friends’ water bottles, he’s more or less succeeded in getting not even a drop of water anywhere other than in his mouth. He swallows and passes the water bottle back to Hyungwon. “Thanks.”

“No problem. I don’t know if we’re allowed to drink water in there, but if you’re in need of water, just let me know, okay? It’s bad to be dehydrated,” Hyungwon says as he places the bottle back into his backpack and puts his backpack back on.

“You’re right. I am terrible at remembering to bring water with me, even when I know I’ll be very thirsty. If I’m not wrong, we are not allowed to drink water when entering specific exhibits. There are lots of toilets though, so we could easily go there to drink water!” Minhyuk laughs at that remark and Hyungwon chuckles along with him. “Have you ever eaten in the toilet before?”

“I don’t think I have,” Hyungwon says, shaking his head. “Is that something you do very often?” He raises an eyebrow.

“No, no, I only did it a couple of times, when I was crazy hungry but couldn’t go out. I remember eating bread in the toilet of the public library a few times, and I was so scared that someone was going to figure out that I was eating because the plastic was making so much noise.”

“That does sound scary,” Hyungwon says. “I’m not so much of a risk-taker, I’d say. I should be grateful that I have yet to be in such a situation, because when I get super nervous it becomes really obvious. I’d probably get caught in no time.”

“Let’s hope you never have to face something like that then,” Minhyuk says.

“Um, excuse me?” someone asks from behind. They both turn around. “The line’s moving already.” Indeed, the people who had been standing right in front of them earlier have now started moving.

Embarrassed, Minhyuk and Hyungwon quickly apologise and catch up to the queue, which has now shortened drastically.

“Will it be very packed inside?” Hyungwon asks. “I can’t tell how large the museum is from out here.”

“I don’t think so. The museum is quite big and lets people choose which exhibits they want to go to first. There’s also stuff like souvenir stores and arts and crafts activities, though those are mostly for the younger ones. The museum staff are good at making sure there aren’t too many people in one place at once.”

“That’s good. As a kid, I remember going to places like museums before where there were people everywhere and it was impossible to see almost anything without one of my parents picking me up.” Hyungwon grimaces, probably as he recalls the experience. “I think that might be one reason why I don’t particularly like being in packed places.”

It isn’t long before they reach the ticketing office, where they pay the very small entrance fee and then get tickets to go in.

“We’re in!” Minhyuk declares. “That didn’t take long, did it?”

“Yeah, the wait was short.”

“Now, where do you want to go first?” Minhyuk asks, grabbing a pamphlet from a table. “There’s lots to see here.”

“Should we have come here sooner?” Hyungwon asks as he looks at the floor map on the pamphlet. “It seems like we might be here all day if we go to every exhibit I am interested in.”

“Oh, don’t worry, the tour is quite flexible. I allocated lots of time for this. We just have to make sure that we don’t spend too much time on each exhibit.”

“Alright then,” Hyungwon says as he slides his pen out of his pocket to circle almost every exhibit on the pamphlet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Any constructive criticism or thoughts are welcome. :D
> 
> Sadly it ended up taking me nearly two months rather than one to update, partly because I had to quickly write a few fics for a fest haha. :/ And I must announce, to whoever's actually reading this, that it might be a few months before my next update because, if possible, I would like to go visit my local museums again so that this fictional museum won't be too bland and also because I'd like to be able to go with my friends. Well, I'll still try to write most of the chapter first without going, but we'll see. In the meantime, I'll work on other fics. Thank you for your patience. :)
> 
> Twitter: [hchaes](https://twitter.com/hchaes)  
CuriousCat: [hchaes](https://curiouscat.me)


End file.
